


an introspective beat

by dizzy



Series: road trip mix tape 2016 (aka, the tour fics) [12]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:24:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8119816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: In an airport in Australia, someone tries to sell Phil some cologne and Dan gets a little handsy. (aka, Phil gets hit on and shades of a jealous Dan.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I'll keep writing these as long as cute stories keep trickling out of their livestreams. 
> 
> Thanks to [BisexualShoeMarriage](https://twitter.com/BeginningWithI) for beta reading!

Dan's very familiar with jealousy. It's an old friend, been with him most his life. He knows petty jealousy and crippling jealousy and irrational jealousy and professional jealousy. He remembers it from a child's perspective, looking around and burning with resentment when another child had a toy he liked or a favourite teacher paid more attention to someone else. He remembers how it manifested as a child - trying to shout the loudest, be the mouthiest, not realizing that all attention wasn't good attention until it was far too late. He remembers jealousy as a teenager, another angry color on the hormone tinged canvas of his life, all black and green and gray and sad and hostile and confused and _jealous_ swirling together until it formed a blob of nothing redeeming at all. He remembers it later in his teens, the antsy feeling of being unsure, of having something nice and being afraid that every single person who came across his path had the power to take it from him. Jealousy felt powerless then, and he knows he lashed out in awful angry ways but luckily between himself and Phil one of them was mature enough to see through petty jealousy. Dan is grateful every day that Phil was stubborn enough to stay and see it through, see them through. He knows jealousy in a more recent way, the tang of feeling like he's not where he should be just because someone else is doing better than he is, that he's better than they are so his rankings and his figures and his bank account should reflect that. 

Dan is no longer a child. He's no longer a teenager. He's an adult, a quarter of a century old, and his life is a wild exciting ride but right now he's stood in the entryway of the duty free shop watching a man with cheaply done blonde highlights try and hit on Phil. 

Reactions and potential responses tumble chaotically inside of him. Is he jealous? On a basic level, maybe, but it's nothing like what he's used to jealousy being. He's curious, more than anything, because he doesn't think this man knows who they are, doesn't sense any recognition - and it's been a long time since he felt the tendrils of possessiveness in a situation like this, in a situation that has nothing to do with fame and fear on a platform boosted up by fans, and everything to do with a fit guy making eyes at his boyfriend. 

He might still be over some things but Phil is not one of them and that's what stills his feet by the doorway. He's confident this guy won't get anywhere but he's curious to see how far he'll try and if Phil will catch on, respond. 

He could wait. He could get angry. He could seethe, if he wanted to. He could convince himself that this is a situation that means something. He could have wild fantasies born of hurt and insecurity about Phil kissing this man, fucking him, marrying him. Ridiculous and outlandish and the kind of stuff that has potential to keep him up at night. 

But he won't. Because in an hour's time Phil is getting on a plane with him and they're going back to the home they live in together. They'll sleep side by side in the same bed, now and ten years on, and it doesn't even matter if Phil might be enjoying being flirted with - it won't amount to anything and there are better ways of dealing with this than quietly letting it erode his confidence from the inside out. 

He takes a few steps forward, approaching just in time for the man to reach out brush his fingers against the same bottle Phil's reaching for as he says, "This is a nice musky scent. Are you a fan of those?" 

"He's not," Dan says, smoothly stepping in. He smiles as warm and polite as he ever has. "He's more of a clean, woodsy aftershave kind of guy, aren't you, babe?" 

Phil is looking at him with one eyebrow raised in surprise, probably at the hand Dan's resting on his hip now or maybe at the 'babe'. 

It was a little much, Dan is willing to admit. 

He just doesn’t care. It’s kind of fun, actually, the way Phil subtly leans into his touch. It’s gratifying too.

"Musky ones give me a headache," Phil says. 

"We learned that from that one candle incident." Dan grins at Phil, who just grins right back. He looks amused, looks like maybe he knows exactly what Dan is doing, but he doesn't look unhappy so Dan just gives a little squeeze to Phil's hip and says, "Are you getting anything?" 

"I don't know," Phil says. "Adam here was just explaining a few of the options to me." 

Dan smiles at Adam. "I feel like it might be a bad idea, you'd probably break it in your backpack before we even got back home." 

"Well," Adam says, and Dan can see him pulling back in every way that counts. His smile stays customer service friendly but he's not making eyes at Phil anymore and victory is sweet. "I'll leave you two to browse, then. Just let me know if I can be of any more assistance." 

'Babe?' Phil mouths, as soon as Adam is walking away. 

Dan gives a half shrug. "Trying something new." 

"Did you just scare that poor man off?" Phil tilts his head slightly at Dan, like a puppy encountering something it isn't quite sure about. He doesn't look upset, though. He doesn't even look unhappy about it. 

"Maybe." Dan tucks his hand into Phil's back pocket. 

"Dan!" Phil yelps slightly too loudly, looking around. "You're being awfully-" 

"Cheeky?" Dan winks as he gropes Phil's ass a little.

Then he decides he's pushed his luck enough and retreats his fingers back to his own side, to a position appropriate for polite company and potential lurking fans. 

"You know," Phil says, "He told me I looked bored." 

Phil is testing the waters. He’s probably expecting anger, or some kind of scene. Even two years ago Dan wouldn’t have disappointed. Dan hopes Phil finds these new calm seas to his liking. 

"Did he now?" Dan asks. "Guess I wasn't doing my job very well, then. Leaving you all alone and bored." 

"Guess you weren't. But you're here now, so that's all sorted.” Phil’s eyes are bright and happy. He leans in like he might actually be going to kiss Dan on impulse before aborting the movement with a sheepish glance toward the open doorway. “Come on, I want a coffee before we go to the gate." 

They walk out of the shop and leave the poor fool who really didn’t stand a chance behind. Maybe, Dan thinks, some of his demons really are at bay. Maybe they’re drowned out by bigger, scarier ones. Or maybe today’s just a very good day but In two hour’s time, they’ll be on a plane to their Hong Kong respite. Phil will probably be trying to sleep or moaning about how he’s pretty sure he’s getting sick or watching a movie that they sync up together on little screens and the number of hours between them and home will grow smaller and smaller.


End file.
